History, Opinions, Imaginings

Bear Meat

When the Packers and Bears meet at Lambeau Field this evening, it will be the 192nd game between the two rival franchises, including two playoff games and the 1921 game when the Bears were known as the Staleys. The overall record stands at Packers 92, Bears 93 and six ties. Should Thanksgiving prove to have a happy ending in Green Bay, the Packers will have drawn even with the Bears for the first time since October 21, 1933. For 82 years, the Bears have held the advantage. The only period Green Bay has been even or ahead in the series was from September 28, 1930 until October 22, 1933, when Chicago beat Green Bay 10-7 with 10 fourth quarter points.

Curly Lambeau continually found himself outcoached by Halas throughout the remainder of the 1930s, and in the 1940s was increasingly outmanned. When Vince Lombardi took over in 1959, the Packers record in the rivalry was 25-48-6. At this first all-time low point, Green Bay was 23 games under .500. Over the next 16 years, Lombardi, Bengtson and Devine posted a 23-9 mark against Chicago, but then Starr, Gregg and Infante reversed that to 9-23 in the ensuing 17 years (no games in 1982).

However, since Ron Wolf installed his coach and organizational framework in 1992, the Packers record against the Bears is 35-13. (Although he was hired on November 27, 1991, we can’t hang that December 1991 loss to Chicago on Wolf.) The following two tables give the breakdown for Packer starting quarterbacks (since 1950) and head coaches (since 1921) against the Bears. The three quarterbacks most responsible for turning the series around will be present tonight. Go Pack Go.